Smoking is a global healthcare problem. The World Health Organization estimates that there are 1.3 billion smokers worldwide today and nearly five million tobacco-related deaths each year. If current smoking patterns continue, smoking will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC), tobacco use is the single leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., responsible for approximately 438,000 deaths each year. In addition, it is estimated that smoking results in an annual health-related economic cost of approximately $157 billion. The CDC estimates that, among the 45 million adult smokers in the U.S., 70% want to quit, but less than five percent of those who try to quit remain smoke-free after 12 months.
One reason it is difficult to quit smoking is addiction to the nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco products. Nicotine is a small molecule that upon inhalation into the body quickly passes into the bloodstream and subsequently reaches the brain by crossing the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain, the nicotine binds to nicotinic receptors, which results in the release of stimulants, such as dopamine, providing the smoker with a positive sensation, which leads to addiction.
There remains a need, therefore, for methods, devices and kits for smoking cessation.